Mugen

I own a 4 panel RQII GM screen. Its leftmost panel is white with the name RuneQuest II written on it and a grey luck rune. Its rightmost panel shows a dragon head. Some tables will be useful for RQ6/Mythras, such as the weapon tables.

Other Suns, too. Is Space Opera % based ?

.

One thing I'd change in OQ, though, is the way starting experience is assigned. I think it doesn't allow for much character diversity. I also don't like the fact it uses the Mongoose RuneQuest versions of the sorcery spells Fly and Tap. Oh, and base skill values. I prefer the more homogeneous Stat1 + Stat2 or Stat x2 from RuneQuest 6.

If I was to play BRP again, I think I'd tie each skill with only one of 4 characteristics (STR, DEX, INT or CHA) and use CON and POW essentially as HP and MP sources.

You could try OpenQuest or D100 Revolution. OQ is a very simple version of BRP, with the 3 magic systems of RuneQuest 3 added (and a much simpler version of Sorcery). D100 Revolution is a multi-genre, BRP-related game which offers modular complexity. At its lowest complexity level, every context works the same : each protagonist gets "hit points" equal to one of its characteristics, and will lose some after each successful attack by its opponent. It also uses few skills and "traits" which are used to increase skills.

You should be very careful of the impact of POW economy on skills. If you have to change 15 skills every time you spend or gain POW, it might be problematic.

I think RosenMcStern's d100 Revolution actually does a pretty good job at it in its most basic form.

In case where you use the 10s of the roll, only critical strikes are going to deal 10 damage with a dagger. Basically, it will be the same as dealing 1dX+Y damage on normal strikes and 10+Y on critical strikes (X being the 10s of your skill, and Y a weapon-dependant factor) .

I don't understand your point. What's problematic in doing one of the following solutions ? Dagger deal [X] dmg Broadsword deal [X]+3 dmg Zweihander deal [X]+6 dmg Dagger deal [X] dmg Broadsword deal 2*[X] dmg Zweihander deal 3*[X] dmg

Unless you count a crit as a "10" and not a "0". There's a problem with using the unit die : your average damage output is heavily dependant on the units of your skill. If your skill is a multiple of 10, your unit die will give you any result from 1 to 10 (or 0 to 9) with an equal chance for each result. If your skill has a unit value of Y, results between 1 and Y will be slightly more frequent than results between Y+1 and 10. Someone with skill 30, 40, 50, 70 or 100 will have an average unit die of 5.5. On the other hand, someone with skill 35 will have average unit die of 5.14, and someone withh skill 75 will have 5.33. Another possible variant is to base damage on: -The lowest die for "small 1 handed weapons" -The highest die for "medium 1 handed weapons" -Both dice for two-handed weapons.

My understanding is that damage primarily represents kinetic energy, as heavier weapons deal more damage, and damage modifier is a function of wielder's STR and SIZ. The reason why it's random is because a huge number of factors have an influence on the amount of kinetic energy a blow can have, and how it is applied on the target. Hitting weak spot is certainly one factor, but not the only one.

In my view, experience checks are part of the defining features of BRP. I prefer assigning them at the end of the game, though, to avoid tick hunting. Nevertheless, in my attempt at "simplifying" RuneQuest, I ditched them in favor for an xp system quite similar to yours

I initially had the same reaction. When I first read HW, it seemed to me like Robin Laws had done something I was chasing since I was 16 : a system that handled every situation with the same few mechanisms. Then, some years after that I re-read Werewolf:the Apocalypse introduction chapters, and I realised that was already accomplished years before HeroWars, in a book I owned...

As for myself, I like how HQ uses a very low number of rules to handle every possible situations in-game. I also like how elegantly it handles multiple scales (human, Heroic, Demi-God) with the same mechanism.

Nephilim's second (french) edition had some remarkable features which makes it sensibly different from the first one. First, character creation detailed a number of historical periods where your nephilim could have lived, rach with a list of possible professions and mystical experience. Second, skills were listed into categories with different base values equal to the sum of 2 stats. In comparison, first edition made no correlation between characteristics and skills. You first developped a category from 0 to 20, then built each skill inside it independently. Thirdly, it dropped to hit points mechanism for some kind of health level scale, similar to D6 system's. Third and 4th edition are not based on BRP.

Note, however, that the conjunction of a flat weapon damage and a flat armor distribution makes a trapezoidal distribution. Deviation is higher than with only one die, though...

A solution would be to add the armor roll to the damage done by the attacker. For instance, a plate armor would add 1d10-10 to the damage roll (instead of substracting 1d10-1), and a leather armor 1d4-4 (instead of substracting 1d4-1). By doing this, you only have to add dice together, unless you have a negative damage modifier. Of course, that means the GM has to tell the armor value to players, which also takes time...

Well, I really don't see how you can make interpretation of the rule the way it's written, as it clearly says "overcoming defensive spells"... EDIT: There's nothing wrong with houseruling it, though. So... How does it work ? EDIT: That's a real question. I really don't have a clear view on what Boosting is supposed to do with Countermagic. Unless you state it only affects Spell Boosting.

Well, I don't have access to the original RuneQuest 3 rules, but both french translation and the Magic Book (Chaosium's re-edition of RQ3 magic without RQ name) clearly state that Spell Boosting is dedicated to "overcome defensive magic". Is there an errata I'm not aware of, and that was not incorporated into the Magic Book ? And, once again, what would be the point in making Countermagic a Variable spell if you could boost it with the number of MP you want ? EDIT: and RuneQuest II Classic edition also state that "However, additional POW can be added to a spell, to overcome a Countermagic or Shield spell" (pg 36 of the pdf).

Concerning question 5), rules say that spells can be boosted to overcome protective magic. For instance, if an opponent has cast a protective spell to prevent you or your buddies to cast spells on you. What would be the point to learn more that 1 spell point if you could spend as many points as you want in it ?

As for myself, I never felt the need for new Sorcery spells. Except perhaps "direct damage" spells. EDIT: The Evoke (energy) spell from Sandy Petersen's rules and Wrack (XXX) spell from MRQ2/Legend/RQ6/Mythras filled that niche for me.

I think Sorcery would be more suited for Supers than Battle Magic, because it has a much wider area of possible effects. You might want to reduce the MP cost, though.

As for myself, I don't know how the man that did the 5th Element could fail at making a good Valerian movie. Too bad Laureline is not in the title, and the actor is 10+ years younger than what the original character looks like, however.

Valerian and Laureline is a Dargaud comics, and all the others are from les Humanoïdes Associés. As far as I know, no RPG company in France is rich enough to hold the rights to publish adaptations of those games. As a matter of fact, Jodorowsky's name has been associated with 2 roleplaying games: -Aleph Tau : This comic, based on a story by Jodorowsky, was sold inb the 80s with a booklet containing one of the first versions of SimulacreS -La Caste des Métabarons : The game from West End Games, produced when Les Humanoïdes owned the company. Some other french comics were adaptated into RPGs: -Le Jeu de Rôle des Contrées Oubliées : based on a comic by Chevalier & Segur, which was a revolution in its time (EDIT: the comic, not the game). -Donjon : based on a semi-satirical comic by Johan Sfar, that draws inspirations from D&D and RuneQuest (you see broos in this game, and the hero is a Duck). The system is ultra-light. -Lanfeust le Jeu de rôle : based on a simplified version of d20. All were done by the original publishers of the comics, and were big hits in terms of french RPG sales (I think ~10.000 units each). But not good enough for comic publishers... All this talk about french comics reminded me of la Quête de l'Oiseau du Temps. I would love a game set in this universe. But as far as I know, a lot of people asked Letendre and Loisel the rights to create a RPG based on it, and they always declined.